Home internal design question

[Anonymous]

Okay, so I am moving into a new apartment at the end of the month and I have a goal.  I want it to look like a place where a single guy does not live!  Now the basics I understand, clean the dishes and do not leave dirty socks laying around   Now designing the way the place is set up, I even understand a little bit (just make junk match!).  My goal is when a **clears throat** female friend comes over her response would be something like, "wow this does not look like a single guy's place."

My problem is what I want to do with my degrees and dean's list awards.  I never made it to high school so I am proud of my uni degree.  What I want to do is place my BA and AGS side by side with all my deans list awards (4 of them) below them and have my two cords (alpha sigma lamba, honor society for adult students; and magna cum laude cords) to form the top of a triangle above the degrees and deans list  awards.  Don't worry they are framed

I am going to do this, my question is if this is tacky for the living room?  Should I do it inside the bedroom instead?

Next year when I am done with my MBA I plan on putting the MBA over my BA and AGS, then using the hood as the bottom of the triangle.

I ask people that I know, but I fear that they either have no fashion sense or are being kind in their judgement because they are too close to me to be completely honest.  So I am asking strangers.

PS- if any of you ever end up coming over to my place, do not pick on me about my credit score!

**looks intently** So PSYCHO what is your Fico now?

DOH!

[llecs]

LOL, my degree is hanging above the toilet with the words etched into the frame: "In case of emergency, break glass". J/k because I'm a dropout twice over, but the only time I see it as important to hang up degrees for public display are for docs or other professional-types where it would be important for the clientele to see their accomplishments before they do biz with them. The only educated folks I know are broke and a degree never guarantees a job or success in life. I'm certainly not down-playing college as I met Mrs. llecs there. What I'm trying to say is, in my 2 cents, is that folks who hang degrees are celebrating the past vs. moving forward in the future. If I had the accomplishments that you do, I'd shove them under the bed out of fear of focusing or reflecting on the past.

ETA...and I hope you don't take this as a slam on your accomplishments. It's not. I had the chance to take 120+ credit hours towards a BA in poli sci with a decent GPA in my major, and also have some graduate credits in Econ and some first year law school under my belt. It was fun doing the research, and studying, and making new friends. I got to meet and work with some amazing folks in my 7+ years of post-HS education. After 5 years I became disenfranchised after I made the assumption that my employment odds were better with a degree, when that's certainly not true. It really opened my eyes when I went into journalism for a time and I got hired managing a group of existing employees at a major paper. One of those was one of my professors. I was making way more than him and he was trying to teach me how to be successful when I was his student. It seemed warped and I realized that all professors were broke and I was being taught by broke people who were telling me how to be broke. It opened my eyes and realized that the richest folks in this country were college drop outs. I wasted all of that time, though Mrs. llecs made it well worth it I suppose.

[Anonymous]

Seriously, hang them in the restroom. It shows that you have a sense of humor about yourself and you don't take yourself-or your degrees-too seriously, no matter how much you spent on framing them.

[rckstrscott]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Okay, so I am moving into a new apartment at the end of the month and I have a goal.  I want it to look like a place where a single guy does not live!  Now the basics I understand, clean the dishes and do not leave dirty socks laying around   Now designing the way the place is set up, I even understand a little bit (just make junk match!).  My goal is when a **clears throat** female friend comes over her response would be something like, "wow this does not look like a single guy's place."

My problem is what I want to do with my degrees and dean's list awards.  I never made it to high school so I am proud of my uni degree.  What I want to do is place my BA and AGS side by side with all my deans list awards (4 of them) below them and have my two cords (alpha sigma lamba, honor society for adult students; and magna cum laude cords) to form the top of a triangle above the degrees and deans list  awards.  Don't worry they are framed

I am going to do this, my question is if this is tacky for the living room?  Should I do it inside the bedroom instead?

Next year when I am done with my MBA I plan on putting the MBA over my BA and AGS, then using the hood as the bottom of the triangle.

I ask people that I know, but I fear that they either have no fashion sense or are being kind in their judgement because they are too close to me to be completely honest.  So I am asking strangers.

PS- if any of you ever end up coming over to my place, do not pick on me about my credit score!

**looks intently** So PSYCHO what is your Fico now?

DOH!

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Well; No offense intended (honestly)..

But when I was shopping for homes this year, I went to maybe 50 or 60?  I think the only place where those kind of awards and degrees didn't look weird or out of place was in a business style office within the home.

I saw a few with degrees  in the living room, or hanging above the fireplace, and (in my opinion) it just looked kinda douchey and stuck up. With that said, its your home, put them where you want to be reminded of your success most, not what you think will impress women. If they are in your apartment to begin with, you are already plus one. Just make sure the place doesn't smell. lol

I had a short, mildly successful music career that left me with a few nice peices of memoriablia (I have framed albums, concert posters w/ we opened for large acts ect) and I keep those inside the studio within my home, where I create music to this day and like to be reminded of those moments.

I would never place them in my living room. It would be like saying 'Oh hi neighbors! Welcome to 2002!'

-scott

[Anonymous]

If your apartment is like mine... in that the living room and the bedroom are the same, you have no choice...

I would put my diplomas in the additional room, if I ever had one... but I actually wouldn't try to put my diplomas on the wall in neither the living room nor the bedroom wall.

What I did was put together a bookshelf for my books and on the "outer area" of the shelf, I placed the diplomas in a frame, so it looked in place with the books and the whole bookshelf and left the walls for posters/pictures and their frames.

I painted the walls a nice grey with a white trim, to give the place a neutral look. On the living room wall, I have posters of New York that are in black and white with certain images in color that make the wall pop a bit.

My #1 cardinal rule is, above all else, the bed must be made and the bathroom must be spotless.

[crunching_numbers]

The only place hanging degrees and awards looks "normal" is right over a desk or in a study. It is infinately better to hang a photo of yourself on graduation day in a hallway area somewhere to show your excitement and pride of your accomplishments. Do not hang your degrees and awards all over your bedroom or living room, unless you set up a home office area with a desk.

For an apartment to say: not a clueless bachelor pad: (IMHO of course...)

Matching relatively nice couch set (no tears, stains, etc.)

Coffee tables with a coffee table book and coasters

Throw pillows that match the couch and each other

Art on the walls (not degrees, not all pictures of you or of your mother, or dogs playing poker).  Does not need to be valuable art, just something to make the walls not blank like framed festival posters or paintings or prints.

Set the dining area table, and use matching dishes and glassware with some kind of focal point like a runner and candlesticks (even if you don't plan to eat dinner there)

Make the bed with clean nice matching bedding and have some art on the walls in there too that goes with the bedding colors

Clean bathroom, especially the toilet. Make sure there is a clean handtowel and nice enough soap (liquid pump bottle is fine, almost used up scraps from the shower is not)

A selection of drinks on hand to offer- not just like water and beer- have diet Coke and wine (girl drinks, but offer the water and beer too)

We don't expect everything to be new and expensive. We do however, like to see things be clean and to match (coordinate with each other). Ikea is a great place to pick up reasonably priced decorative items that will go with any decor. 

[Anonymous]

Marshall's has some good finds too.

I have a very masculine teal/brown facade going on throughout the house.

Also, black/silver can be appropriate in the right places.

[demi]

Well, I have never even framed mine, much less have them hanging...but if you do want to hang them, I would do it like others have said, around a desk or a computer, or a hallway. 

Your question about the single guy apartment makes me laugh...after 4 years in my brand new house, they finally built the house behing me!  A single guy (or so it appears) bought it, absolutely nothing on the windows for about 3 weeks, not like I was trying to peak, couldn't help it! (two story houses, very close together).  Only thing you could see was a HUGE TV, honestly, I was thinking of watching his tv with my sound on.  After week three, one night I was in the back yard, and he was outside with a woman...sheets went up on the windows that night!!! 

Have fun, its fun to decorate it!

[quest208]

it will take you a long time to get the home looking the way that you want it. 

the most important thing i think is to get rid of clutter.

other than that i think everything else is personal style and taste.

wall color, rugs, material and build of furniture, etc.

pillows are a good idea to spice things up

flowers or potted plants in the corner

change the window dressing

if you have blinds, get drapes or something else

change the lamp shade

pay attention to the bathroom.  make it clean,  nicely scented and comfortable.

i suggest you start watching nate berkus show and/or HGTV, specifically if you can find Sarah Richardson's show on HGTV you will get good ideas to pick and choose from.

or read some design books from barnes and noble during your spare time.

[thrasher865]

Please, dear God, do not hang your degrees up in your living room!  The ONLY place they should hang is in your office.  If you don't have an office, you could hang them in your home office, but most don't even do that.  This is, of course, my opinion.

Also, when you say Dean's list awards, do you mean a letter they mailed you to signify you made the Dean's list?  I have never heard of people framing these and hanging them with their degrees.  I understand you are proud of your accomplishments, and that's good, but you might put off the impression that you are a little too proud.